City Girl
by Sara Wolfe
Summary: A down-on-her-luck Lois finds herself with only one place to turn to. A season two AU.
1. Chapter 1

A Story So Timeless

**City Girl**

**Chapter One**

"I wish you weren't doing this," Lucy said, staring mournfully at her sister as she got ready for work. "It could be dangerous."

"I'm working in a warehouse, not stripping in some seedy bar," Lois said. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be getting ready for school?"

"Aren't you?" Lucy challenged. "Why do you get to skip school, if I have to go? It's not fair."

"I'm older, and life's not fair," Lois retorted.

"I thought this was supposed to be a graveyard shift job, anyway," Lucy said.

"It is," Lois said. "But, they're short on workers, again, and they need me to come in, and I can't very well say no. We need the money."

"Dad sends us money," Lucy insisted, stubbornly. "Why can't you just use that?"

"I do use the money the General sends us," Lois explained, patiently. "But, this isn't like living on the base where I can convince Dad's CO to send his paychecks straight to us, or to give us a few more days on the rent. If I don't pay the bills on time, we lose things like water and electricity, and if I don't pay the rent, we get evicted."

"And Child Services gets called in," Lucy finished.

"It was hard enough last time fending off nosy social workers," Lois told her, earnestly. "We can't afford to take the chance that it'll happen, again."

Lucy was quiet for a long moment, and then she dug a crumpled piece of paper out of her backpack.

"You gotta sign this," she said, handing it over. "It gives me permission to watch porn during school."

"Sex Ed is not porn," Lois replied, rolling her eyes and grabbing a pen.

She scrawled 'Sam Lane' across the page, thanking God that her father's chicken scratch was easy to imitate, and handed it back to Lucy.

"Have fun," she said, as she heard the bus pull up, outside. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"You mean, like, play hooky?" Lucy asked, grinning.

"Out!" Lois snapped, hiding her answering grin behind her hand.

Lucy grabbed her bag off the table and started toward the door.

"Be careful," she called out, as she stepped outside.

"That's what the steel-toed boots are for," Lois quipped. "No more broken toes for me."

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Lane, I want to talk to you for a minute."

Lois grimaced as the words came out of her boss's mouth. In that tone, nothing good would ever come of the conversation.

"Yeah, Chief?" she asked, stepping into Bruno Molson's cramped office.

Wordlessly, he passed her an envelope, and she opened it, hands shaking. When she saw the flash of pink, she pressed her lips together, tightly, to keep from crying.

"Your last paycheck's in there, as well," Bruno told her. "I'm sorry, kid-"

"I need this job," Lois interrupted him. "I cannot afford to not work."

"You know how it goes," he said. "Last hired-"

"First fired," Lois finished for him.

"We've got too many people, and I was ordered to cut the slack," Bruno explained.

"I am one of the best damn people you've got!" Lois snapped, eyes flashing furiously. "Fire one of those morons out there if you've got to fire someone."

"I'm sorry," Bruno repeated, his tone implacable. "There's nothing I can do."

Lois didn't say a word; she didn't think she could say anything without screaming, or crying. Instead, she grabbed the envelope off the desk and marched out of the office, determined to hold onto whatever dignity she had left.

She spent the rest of the day driving around, trying to find a new job, but too many people were unwilling to overlook the fact that she was only seventeen, and she returned home unsuccessful.

She walked in the door to see Lucy bent over the table, textbooks open all around her.

"You're late," she remarked, without looking up. "There's nothing for dinner, there's a bill with 'Final Notice' on it, and I have bad news."

"Fuck," Lois growled under her breath. Tearing open the envelope, she scanned it, quickly.

"What could possibly be worse than the power company shutting off our lights?" she asked.

"Lowell County is drawing up their school district boundaries, again," Lucy told her. "We're not in Granville, anymore, Toto."

"Where are we?" Lois asked, unable to even muster a grin for Lucy's attempt at a joke.

"Smallville," Lucy said.

"That's over half an hour away," Lois said, stunned.

"And they're not providing bus services, either," Lucy finished. "Go Crows."

Lois could only stare at her sister in shock.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"I have to go into Smallville for a bit, today," Lois told Lucy as she pulled on her coat. "I'll try to be home by the time you get out of school."

"Let me come with you," Lucy begged.

"I don't know," Lois said, hesitantly.

"Come on," Lucy wheedled. "We never spend any time together, anymore. Missing one day won't kill me, and I can do all my homework in the car when you're at your job interview or whatever it is you're doing."

Lois sighed, and Lucy adopted her best puppy-dog eyes.

"Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"All right," Lois conceded, with a laugh.

"So, what are we doing, today?" Lucy asked.

"_I_ am looking for a new job and getting both of us set up at our new schools," Lois told her. "You, on the other hand, are going to work on your homework, like you just said you would."

"In other words, boring adult stuff," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of being a boring adult," Lois replied.

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX**

"I don't see why we need to hire another person, at all!"

"Clark, a lot of farms took some heavy damage from the tornado," Martha explained. "We're not the only ones hiring extra hands."

"I can do the work, myself," Clark insisted, stubbornly.

"You can't milk the cows at super-speed or make the tractor run any faster than it already does," Martha told him. "And until your father gets back on his feet, we need all the help we can get."

"You'll just have to not use your powers for the time being," Martha added, when Clark was silent for several moments.

"No, really?" Clark muttered. "I thought I'd expose myself in front of a complete stranger and spend the rest of my days being experimented on like a lab rat."

Martha threw a dishtowel at her son, which he caught, easily.

"No more backtalk from you," she scolded.

"Yes, ma'am," Clark replied, grinning.

Then he sobered as he asked, "Did you tell Dad, yet?"

"Not yet," Martha responded, with a sigh. "Knowing your father, he'd only try to do the work himself, even though the doctor confined him to bed for the duration of his recovery."

"Clearly, your stubborn streak is not genetic," she added.

"So, I take it you also haven't told him that you're taking a job in town?" Clark hazarded a guess.

"What your father doesn't know isn't going to hurt him," was Martha's response.

"This is going to come back to bite us in the butt," Clark muttered.

"What was that?" Martha asked, shooting him a suspicious look.

"I'm going to go post these in town," Clark said, quickly, holding up a stack of 'Help Wanted' signs.

He fled the house before his mother could throw any more dishtowels, her laughter filling the air behind him.

**XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

"What do you mean my transcript is incomplete?" Lois asked, confused.

"I mean, Ms. Lane, that you do not have enough credits to even enter your senior year, let alone graduate from it come June," the principal of Smallville High told her, sternly.

"That's impossible," Lois insisted. "We moved around a lot; someone had to have made a mistake."

"So, you didn't miss nearly a quarter of the last academic year?" Kwan asked, glancing down at the folder on his desk.

Lois felt her cheeks burning with guilt and embarrassment.

"There were extenuating circumstances," she muttered.

"Care to share them?" Kwan asked.

"Are you saying that I can't enroll?" Lois asked, rather than answer.

"Not at all," Kwan told her. "I can't bar any student from getting an education. And I'm sure the sophomore class will welcome you with open arms."

"Sophomore!" Lois exclaimed.

"That's how many classes you're missing," Kwan informed her.

"What about Lucy?" Lois finally asked.

"Oh, your sister has a very impressive school record," Kwan said, switching folders. "Top of her class, perfect attendance record - you would do well to follow her example, Ms. Lane."

Lois could only nod, as Kwan continued.

"Now that everything's in order, I'll be looking forward to seeing you both bright and early Monday morning. You will be here Monday?" he asked, pointedly. "No 'extenuating circumstances' in your future?"

Feeling lower than she ever had before, Lois could only mutter a hasty "No, sir," before she fled the office.

Once she was back in her car, she slammed the door and locked it, her hands shaking as she tried to start the engine.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked, poking her head up from the backseat, where she had her algebra homework spread.

"I'm fine," Lois lied, her voice tight.

"You don't look fine," Lucy said, suspiciously. "Are you crying?"

"Nope," Lois said. "In fact, I couldn't be happier. We both start on Monday. And now I'm going to find a job, and afterwards, we'll go out to lunch to celebrate."

"Sounds great," Lucy said, sitting back. "So long as you're sure you're fine."

Lois swallowed, hard, and fixed her eyes on the road.

"I'm fantastic."


	3. Chapter 3

A Story So Timeless

**Chapter Three**

Clark stepped back from the notice board after putting his 'Help Wanted' sign up with all the others already vying for space.

"We're all begging strangers for help because our neighbors are too busy trying to save their own farms to worry about ours," a voice at his elbow said, and Clark jumped in surprise.

He turned to face the speaker and smiled at Wayne Irig, a long-time friend of his father's.

"Sorry, Wayne," he apologized. "I didn't see you standing there."

"Just hired two new hands, myself," he continued, as though Clark hadn't spoken.

"We're hoping we can get by with just one extra person," Clark remarked.

"How is your dad doing?" Wayne asked, finally looking over at his young companion.

"The doctor put him on strict bed rest until his back gets better," Clark told him. "And Mom's sitting on Dad to make sure he follows orders."

"If anyone can make your father listen to reason it's Martha," Wayne said, with a fond chuckle. "Take care, Clark," he added, as he walked back to his truck.

"You too, Wayne," Clark replied.

He'd just reached his own truck when he saw a young woman walk up to the notice board and grab his just-posted sign off of it.

"Looking for a job?" he called, walking back to where she stood.

"Yeah," came the reply. "Do you know these people? The Kents?"

"They're a good family," Clark said, biting back a grin. "Very caring and hard-working."

"Let me guess," the woman said, "big house, lots of kids, golden retriever romping in the yard?"

"One teenage son, no golden retriever," Clark corrected her. "So, have you ever worked on a farm, before?"

"Lots of times," she told him, smiling the falsely-bright smile of someone lying through their teeth. "I don't suppose you could tell me how to get to the Kent Farm?"

Clark gave her directions, and she turned to go back to her car, his carefully-written sign still in her hand.

"Don't you think you should give other people the chance to apply?" he asked, nodding at the piece of paper.

Sheepishly, she tacked it back on the board, smoothing the wrinkles out before she turned to leave, again.

"Job's as good as mine, anyway," she commented, over her shoulder.

"You seem awfully confident about that," Clark remarked.

"And why shouldn't I be?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "See ya round, Smallville."

Clark felt a wide grin breaking out on his face as he watched her saunter back to her Jeep.

She was going to be fun.

**XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

Lois groaned as she got back in the car, letting her head fall back against the headrest.

"Idiot," she berated herself. "You walked away with exactly one job listing because you let yourself get flustered by a pretty face. Good going, Lois."

"Talking to yourself, again?" Lucy asked, sliding into the passenger seat. "That's a sign of insanity, you know."

"Where did you go?" Lois demanded, staring at her sister incredulously.

"To get a pop from the convenience store," Lucy explained, holding up a plastic bottle. "Jeez, 'General', I wasn't aware I was being confined to quarters."

"Lucy, I didn't mean it like that," Lois protested. "And where'd you get money for pop, anyway?"

"Whatever," Lucy muttered. "And, what do you mean 'where'd I get the money?' You think I stole this?"

"Lucy-"

"The shoplifting was a stupid mistake," Lucy told her, angrily. "I know that, and I said it would never happen again, and you believed me!"

"I do believe you," Lois told her. "You said that you learned your lesson and that you were sorry, and I trust your word. You're my sister, why wouldn't I?"

"Thank you," Lucy said.

"But, if you borrowed that money out of my purse, you're paying me back," Lois continued, and Lucy gaped at her.

"It was two bucks!" she exclaimed.

"It was my two bucks," Lois corrected her. "And borrowing comes with the expectation that you'll pay your lender back, right?"

"I'll pay you back," Lucy agreed, grudgingly.

"Good," Lois said. "Now, buckle up. I have a job to apply for."

"Nice place," Lucy commented, as they pulled into the Kents' driveway, ten minutes later. "What is it you're gonna be doing?"

"If I get the job," Lois told her, "and that's a big if, I'll be doing work around the farm."

"What, like baling hay and milking cows?" Lucy asked. "Lo, you've never milked a cow in your life."

"It can't be that hard, can it?" Lois asked. "I mean, you just pull on their udders, right?"

"We're doomed," Lucy said, with a melodramatic sigh. "You're never going to find work, and we're going to lose the house, and then we'll be out on the streets, and you'll have to turn to prostitution for money-"

"Shut up," Lois muttered, elbowing her sister in her side. "And Chloe claims she got the writers' gene in the family."

"Speaking of, why aren't we staying with Uncle Gabe, again?" Lucy asked, at the mention of their cousin's name. "Wouldn't it be a lot easier than renting a house every time Dad gets stationed at Fort Ryan?"

"Uncle Gabe blames the General for Mom's death," Lois explained.

"Mom got sick," Lucy protested. "Dad couldn't have done anything."

"Inane though it may be, their little feud refuses to die," Lois said. "As a result, we are to have nothing to do with Gabriel Sullivan."

"Dad has no idea that you and Chloe talk all the time, does he?" Lucy asked.

"Not a clue, and we're keeping it that way," Lois told her. "And now I have to go convince Mrs. Kent that I know the back end of a horse from its front, or I really am never going to find work."

"Good luck," Lucy said, smiling encouragingly

Lois nodded her thanks and strode up to the door, ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later, a woman with long auburn hair opened the door, smiling politely.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Lois Lane," Lois introduced herself. "I'm here about the farmhand position."

"Right, well, come on in," Mrs. Kent said, stepping aside with a welcoming gesture.

"I take it you've worked at a farm before?" she asked, as she led the way into the dining room.

"Yeah," Lois said, nonchalantly. "Lots of times. There's nothing to it."

"So, you'd say that you can tell the back end of a horse from its front," Mrs. Kent continued.

Lois went pale, and she could practically see her chances slipping away from her, with this confirmation that she and Lucy had been overheard.

"I'm sure you had good intentions," Mrs. Kent said, her tone implying that she believed nothing of the sort, "but I'm only considering people who are truly serious about this work."

"Mrs. Kent, wait!" Lois burst out. "Please, give me a chance. I don't know anything about how to work on a farm, but I can learn. I swear it."

"I'm sorry, but my son and I don't have time to teach you, when we could get experienced help, instead."

The older woman opened the door, clearly to escort Lois out, and Lois looked outside, to where Lucy was waiting for her.

"I'm not going to leave," she said softly. "Not until you give me a fair chance."

"Maybe I'm not the most impressive-looking person," she continued, before Mrs. Kent could say anything. "Maybe I'm not the type of person you'd pick to work for you. But I am a hard worker. I've worked in warehouses, I can operate heavy machinery, heck, I could balance your books if I had to.

"This guy in town told me that the Kents were good, decent, fair people. And wouldn't fair people be willing to take a risk? I promise you, Mrs. Kent, give me this chance and I will not disappoint you."

"Okay," Mrs. Kent said, after a long moment of silence.

"What?" Lois said, shocked. "Did you just-"

"I hired you," Mrs. Kent told her. "You start bight and early Monday morning. Five-thirty, okay?"

"Okay," Lois said, still stunned. "Um, thank you."

"I'll see you Monday, Lois," Mrs. Kent said, guiding her to the door.

Lois barely heard the door shut behind her as she walked to her car. As she got in, Lucy poked her in the shoulder.

"So?" she demanded. "Did you get the job?"

"I got the job," Lois affirmed, with a shaky smile. "I actually got the job."

"Cool," Lucy said. "Let's go eat, I'm starved."

Lois laughed, shaken out of her reverie.

"Where do you want to go to lunch?" she asked.

**XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

"I hope you're right about her, Clark," Martha said, as her son came down from where he'd been sitting on the landing during the impromptu interview.

"I am," Clark reassured his mother.

"She admitted that she doesn't know a thing about working on a farm," Martha reminded him. "You'll have to teach her."

"That's fine," Clark said. "I'd probably have had to train anyone you hired, anyway."

"How can you be so sure about a total stranger after a five second conversation, anyway?" Martha asked.

"The same way you and Dad knew I wasn't dangerous when you found me in that field," Clark told her. "It's a gut instinct."

"All these powers and you listen to your stomach," Martha joked.

"Lois is a good person," Clark said, decisively. "I know it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Lucy! Breakfast!"

The younger girl trudged out of her room, and Lois smiled at her.

"I made banana pancakes," she added.

"They probably taste like crap," Lucy snapped, glaring at her sister.

"And good morning to you, too, sunshine," Lois remarked, biting back the urge to snap back at Lucy.

"I'm not eating those," Lucy continued, giving the plate a disdainful look and pushing it away from her. "You're a lousy cook."

"Well, you have to eat something for breakfast," Lois told her. "How about oatmeal?"

"I hate oatmeal," Lucy muttered, from where she'd pillowed her head in her arms. "I'll get something at school."

"You're already buying lunch," Lois reminded her. "We can't afford for you to eat out for every meal."

"Then I won't eat," Lucy retorted, a challenging note in her voice. "I'll go hungry until lunch. Happy?"

Taking a deep breath, Lois closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten. Twice.

"So, what is it this time?" she asked, once she felt calm again.

"What's what?" Lucy asked.

"If I'm going to be treated to a snit fit, the least you could do is tell me what I've done to deserve it," Lois replied, reasonably.

"It's four-thirty," Lucy informed her, testily.

"And you can sleep in the car until school starts," Lois said. "That's three and half more hours."

"Why can't I sleep in my own bed?" Lucy asked, her tone dangerously close to whining.

"Because," Lois explained, with what she thought was incredible patience, "I'd have to take another hour just to drive back here to pick you up for school. That's way too long. It's easier this way."

"Right, because everything's about making your life easier," Lucy huffed, shoving away from the table. "I'll be out in the car."

Lois groaned, dropping her face into her hands as Lucy stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Way to go, Lois," she muttered, under her breath. "This is going to be a long day."

Then, she grabbed her car keys and Lucy's backpack, which she'd left behind on the table, and locked the door as she stepped outside.

Forty-five minutes later, she was pulling to a stop in front of the Kent farmhouse. She shut off the car and turned to check on Lucy, who was stretched across the back seat, dead to the world.

Lois snagged the blanket hanging off the back of the seat and draped it over her sister's sleeping form, careful not to wake her. Then, she just sat there for a few minutes, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel as butterflies churned in her stomach.

After what felt like an eternity, she gathered her courage and left the car and marched determinedly up to the front door. Due to the early hour, and the desire to not piss off her new employers, she decided against ringing the doorbell, knocking softly, instead.

When no answer came, she knocked again, louder this time, and few moments later, Martha Kent opened the door, a smile lighting up her face when she saw who it was.

"Lois!" she exclaimed.

"You said to be here by five-thirty," Lois said, hesitantly. "I know I'm a little early-"

"No, that's fine," Martha interrupted her. "Come on in."

"I thought I was starting work in the barn?" Lois asked.

"You are," Martha told her. "My son, Clark, is going to show you everything once he gets down here."

As though summoned by his mother's words, the gangly teen came down the stairs a few seconds later, stifling a yawn with his hand.

Lois got a good look at the young man, and glared at him.

"Oh, very funny," she told him.

"Hey, everything I told you was the truth," Clark told her.

"With one convenient detail left out," Lois groused.

"Well, I see you two are already acquainted," Martha interrupted. "Clark, why don't you show Lois how to get started?"

"Sure thing, Mom," Clark replied.

Then, he turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs and he and Martha glared suspiciously at the man who entered the kitchen.

"Jonathon, what are you doing out of bed?" Martha demanded. "The doctor's orders were very specific."

"And I'm going to follow them," Jonathon Kent replied. "I just came down to get some coffee."

"You don't get coffee until your blood pressure goes back down," Martha reminded him, sternly.

"Martha, one cup isn't going to hurt," Jonathon protested, but his wife remained firm.

"Back upstairs," she told him.

Reluctantly, he turned to go, and then noticed Lois, who'd drifted back into a corner of the kitchen while the Kent family was having their discussion.

"Who are you?" he asked. "One of Clark's classmates?"

"Sort of, sir," Lois replied, extending a hand. "I'm Lois Lane."

"Lois is going to be helping out around here for a little while," Martha told him.

"You hired someone without telling me?" Jonathon snapped, turning back to face his wife.

"I'm telling you, now," Martha returned.

"I think now would be a good time for us to get out of here," Clark muttered, edging over to where Lois stood and hustling her out the door.

"Good call," Lois agreed, as they stepped out into the just-lightening dawn. "So, what do we do, first?"

Clark grinned at her.

"How do you feel about mucking stalls?" he asked.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"And then you just rake the clean straw into the stalls," Clark told her.

Lois nodded. "Sounds simple enough," she commented.

"Well, it's not rocket science," Clark said, "but it is hard work."

"I think I can handle it," Lois said, dryly. "Question," she added, as they started working, "what happens to the soiled stuff?"

"Fertilizer," Clark said. "Crops grow better with it."

"That's just a little bit disgusting," Lois told him, making a face.

Clark laughed. "That's life on a farm, Lois. Might as well get used to it."

"So, we clean out the stalls, put Bessie and Olga back, and then what?" Lois asked.

"Olga?" Clark asked.

"What?" Lois defended. "It could be a cow's name."

"In answer to your question," Clark went on, "then, it's feeding time. Them first, and if there's time, us."

"You cook?" Lois asked, curiously.

"My mom," Clark elaborated. "She's a fantastic cook."

"So," Lois spoke up, after they'd worked in silence for a long while, "not to seem nosy or anything, but why didn't anyone tell your dad that I was working here?"

"Because if he'd known ahead of time," Clark told her, "he'd have insisted that we didn't need an extra person, and then he'd have tried to do the work, himself, which would have further injured his back."

"Guess you guys got hit pretty hard by the tornado," Lois commented.

"Everyone did," Clark said. "We're just one of the few farms that didn't have extra help to begin with."

"Why not?" Lois wanted to know.

"My dad grew up with the mentality that if he couldn't do the work himself, he didn't deserve to be running the farm," Clark said.

"Sounds like the General," Lois muttered. "My dad," she elaborated, when Clark shot her a quizzical look.

"You call your dad 'The General'?" Clark asked, surprised.

"Long story," Lois told him. "So, how's it look?" she asked, stepping back and gesturing to her row of stalls.

"Looks good," Clark told her, inspecting her work. "Clean, nice and even, no bare patches, nice job, Lois."

"Thank you," Lois replied, with an exaggerated curtsy that made Clark laugh.

"All right, Your Highness, let's go get the cows for breakfast," he said.

Nearly an hour later, the two teens stood in the middle of the sparkling barn, surveying their well-fed charges with pride.

"I never thought I'd say this, but that was actually kind of fun," Lois told Clark.

She reached out and rubbed the nose of the nearest cow, pulling her hand back, sharply, when a long, sandpapery tongue snaked out and touched her wrist.

"She's not going to eat you," Clark said, amused. "And, let's see if you say that at the end of the week."

"I don't really think there's time for that fantastic breakfast you promised," Lois told him, looking at her watch. "I barely have time to wash up. Do you have a sink out here?"

"Use the bathroom in the house," Clark told her. "I can use the one out here."

When Lois opened her mouth to protest, Clark raised a hand to forestall any comment she might make.

"You might work here, but you're also still a guest, and my mom would kill me if she knew I had you using the sink out here," he said.

"Fine," Lois conceded, grumpily. "Where is it?"

"Up the stairs, first door on the left," Clark answered. "Just go right in, you don't have to knock or anything."

Lois did as he said, but still felt like an intruder as she walked through the silent house. Then, Martha rounded the corner into the kitchen and Lois jumped, her heart in her throat.

"Are you okay?" Martha asked, concerned.

"You startled me, that's all," Lois told her. "Clark said I could use your bathroom-"

"First door on the left," Martha said, pointing up the stairs.

Lois nodded her thanks, hurrying up the stairs. She washed up quickly, conscientious of time, and rushed back down, to see Martha busy finishing what looked to be an amazing breakfast. Lois blushed when she heard her stomach growl, and Martha smiled.

"It's just pancakes if you want to take some with you," she said, and Lois smiled, gratefully.

"Thanks," she said, wrapping several in a paper towel. "These will be great when I'm driving. They smell great, by the way."

"Just like Clark, always in a hurry," Martha commented.

"I have to be," Lois told her. "I'm going to be late for school."

"I'll see you this afternoon, then," Martha said.

"Right," Lois replied. "And, thank you, again for the job. It really means a lot to me."

"This isn't a gift," Martha said. "If you can do the work, you've earned your job."

"Thanks, anyway," Lois repeated, ducking out of the house.

"Smallville, what's up?" she called out, when she saw Clark buried under the hood of his truck.

"Stupid truck won't start," Clark replied, kicking lightly at a tire. "I don't have time to fix it before school."

"Fix it later," Lois told him. "You can bum a ride with me."

Clark grinned at her in gratitude. "Thanks, City Girl."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"City Girl? That's the best you can come up with?" Lois asked, as she led the way to her Jeep.

"Like Smallville is that much more inventive," Clark countered.

Lois snorted out a laugh as she unlocked the doors.

"There's someone sleeping in the back of your car," Clark informed her as he climbed in.

"That's Lucy, my little sister," Lois explained, shaking the younger girl awake.

"You live in your car?" Clark exclaimed, horror plain in his voice.

"Who's yelling?" Lucy grumped, as Lois rolled her eyes at Clark's comment. "And why are you waking me up? We're not at school, yet."

"Breakfast," Lois told her, passing the paper towel back to her.

"I told you I wasn't eating that," Lucy said, immediately.

"Mrs. Kent made them," Lois told her. "Eat it, and be nice. And no," she continued, turning back to Clark, "we do not live in the car."

"Does it look like we live in the car?" Lucy asked, sarcastically.

"You're not eating," Lois told her.

In answer, Lucy glared and bit off a huge chunk of pancake, chewing noisily.

"You're an only child, right?" Lois asked Clark. At his nod, she added, "Be grateful. Be very grateful."

"So, where do you live?" Clark asked, going back to his earlier question.

"Granville," Lucy spoke up, through a full mouth.

"There's no bus service from there to Smallville, so we have to drive," Lois explained, before Lucy could continue.

"That's an awfully long drive," Clark said.

"It's not like we have a choice," Lois replied.

She pulled into the parking lot of the high school and Lucy hopped out.

"See you at three-thirty!" she called out, walking away.

"Hey!" Lois called, stopping her in her tracks. "Cell phone's on vibrate?"

"Yes, _Mom_," Lucy groaned, with an exasperated eye roll.

"You've got money for lunch?"

"I'm not in elementary school, anymore, Lois," Lucy complained. "I know how to get myself ready for school."

"Yeah, I know," Lois admitted. "Have a good day."

"Ditto." With that, Lucy walked quickly away before anything else could stop her.

"She knows you've got classes in the same building, right?" Clark asked.

"Lucy doesn't want her 'nosy, big sister' running into her all the time at school, so I agreed to leave her alone for the day," Lois told him. "Which means waiting five minutes before I go inside, so no one sees us together."

Clark grinned. "The perils of being a big sister, huh?" he asked.

"It has its ups and its downs," Lois agreed.

They sat in the Jeep for a few more minutes, waiting, per Lucy's request, and then Clark led the way inside. They stopped off at the office for Lois to pick up her schedule and Clark read over her shoulder to see her classes.

"We've got homeroom together," he told her. "And math, history, and PE."

"I'm never getting rid of you, am I?" Lois asked.

"Doesn't look like it, no," Clark remarked, draping an arm over her shoulders. Lois just rolled her eyes at him.

"Your locker's down here," Clark told her, checking the number on her schedule.

Lois had just shoved her backpack into her locker when she heard a voice from down the hallway.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up for school, Clark."

As Lois turned around to see the speaker, Clark said, "Lois, this is-"

"Lois!" Chloe shrieked, shoving past Clark to throw herself on her cousin.

"I take it you two know each other," Clark said, seeing them hug.

"Clark," Chloe started to introduce, "this is my cousin, Lois – wait, how do you two know each other?"

"Lois is," Clark began, but she cut him off.

"Clark's truck broke down and I gave him a ride," she interrupted, stepping on Clark's foot when he tried to say something.

"So, Uncle Sam is stationed at Fort Ryan, again?" Chloe asked, as they walked down the hallway to Clark and Lois's first class.

"Well, right now he's on maneuvers out in the desert with the troops," Lois replied. "But, yeah, Lucy and I are living out in Granville. We'll probably be here a couple of months."

"Are you on base housing?" Chloe asked.

"Not this time," Lois said. "We rented a place in town."

"Hey, I'll see you guys around lunch, okay?" Chloe said, as they arrived at their classroom and she had to go to her own.

"Why didn't you want me to tell Chloe that you're working for my family?" Clark asked, as he sat down, with Lois taking the empty desk next to him.

"Because the General and Uncle Gabe don't get along very well," Lois answered. "If Chloe knew that I was working for you, she'd tell Gabe, and he'd make a big deal out of it. And it's not a big deal; I've got everything under control."

"Okay," Clark agreed, quickly, surprised by Lois's vehemence.

They quieted down when the teacher came in, and after a few quick announcements, class started. Clark slid his book to the edge of his desk so that Lois could look off it. When the bell rang forty minutes later, he showed her to her next class and headed off to his own.

Chloe was waiting for him in the classroom, and he slid into the desk that she'd saved next to hers.

"So, you just happened to catch a ride with Lois, huh?" she asked in a whisper, as he sat down.

"That's right," Clark lied, going with the story that Lois had come up with. "The truck's having engine problems."

"Uh huh," Chloe said, her tone indicating that she didn't believe him in the slightest.

"Hey, where's Lana?" Clark asked, trying to change the subject, when he noticed the other girl missing from her usual spot at the front of the classroom.

"Nell's sister is in the hospital," Chloe told him. "Lana flew out to Coast City with Nell to be with her; she'll be back at the end of the week."

"Oh," Clark said. "Well, if you talk to Lana, tell her good luck for Nell's sister."

"I can give you her hotel phone number if you want to talk to her, yourself," Chloe volunteered, but Clark shook his head.

"That's okay," he said. "The farm's keeping me pretty busy right now. I don't really have any time to talk to Lana."

"So, what do you think of Lois?" Chloe asked, in an abrupt change of subject.

"Lois?" Clark echoed, wondering what his friend was up to.

"Yeah, Lois," Chloe prompted him. "The original bull in a china shop."

"She's something all right," Clark said, thinking back to earlier in the morning.

"Good something or bad something?" Chloe prodded, insistently.

"Good something," Clark answered, without having to think about it. "Definitely good."


End file.
